Haven case accused named

Last updated 05:00 27/02/2013

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The man accused of murdering Nicola Jean Fleming in Invercargill this month can now be named.

He is David Jackson Mahia, 30, unemployed, of Invercargill.

He appeared before Judge Gary MacAskill in the Invercargill District Court yesterday facing a charge of murder and another charge of sexually violating Ms Fleming, 38, by unlawful sexual connection on February 9.

Judge MacAskill remanded Mahia in custody till June 5 for a post-committal conference.

Lawyer Bill Dawkins did not apply for continued name suppression and made no bail application.

Ms Fleming was found dead in her room at the Haven accommodation hostel in Tyne St at 10am on February 9.

Mahia contacted police later that day.

He was interviewed and subsequently charged with murder. The sexual violation charge was laid at a later date.

Mahia did not live at the hostel and the pair were not relatives but were believed to have been known to each other, police said at the time.

The hostel, which is beside St Mary's Basilica, had 14 residents who moved back in on February 15, after police completed a scene examination.